Following all of chapter two's drama, comes the aftermath. Please review and feel free to visit my profile and check out my other stories!
All of the drama happens on a Wednesday, so all that's left for Puck is Thursday's lunch detention and getting through Friday. Then it's goodbye WMPS, hello Aruba.
He climbs out of bed reluctantly that Thursday, groping for a reason to let his feet touch the floor. In the shower, he doesn't cry. It's too cliche. His heart is too heavy to cry where he expects himself to. More than reluctantly, he readies himself for school. Well, not really. He gets dressed and puts all his books from the previous night's homework into his messenger bag. There's no way in hell, Puck is ready to face all the angry looks, whispers, and tenth grade girls asking him "Why'd you do it?". It's all just too much.
Fortunately, he has a flat tire so he thinks of the possibility of not going to school. Unfortunately, the bus is just down the road so his mother makes him go. When he arrives, he steps on without a word. He sits there with his iPod, listening to Buckcherry's 'Sorry' on replay.
When he gets to school, the bus drops him and the other students off at the front door, where of course the headmaster's office is. Dr. Wilson doesn't appear to be there at the moment, but he still walks with his head down. As if that could change anything. He's now a social pariah. His eyes are bloodshot, his nose is stuffy, but his wrists are still intact. That's an accomplishment, right?
At lunch time, instead of going to cafeteria, he snatches his brown paper bag lunch and takes it down to the library with the other boys. Dr. Wilson, a stern look plastered on her face, issues them each two pieces of WMPS stationary and matching envelopes. They have to write apologies and then let her read them. He can't write what he really feels on the page because Quinn won't be the only one to see it. So he writes, to the other boys, what would seem like a decent apology. To him, it's the most half assed task, he's ever had the misfortune of completing. He can't even remember what he writes to Deepak and Quinn, but he does remember saying that it'll never happen again. That part he means. He means it with his whole heart.
As he expected, rumors begin to infest the school like termites. A rumor circulates that Quinn feels bad that she told Dr. Wilson about the picture. He feels slightly better upon hearing that, even though he's not sure if it's true or not. But then another rumor reaches him. People think the picture was pornographic - that he and the boys drew Quinn naked. "You wish, you stupid fuckers." He grumbles angrily. The day feels like a sludge hammer to the gut. It's awkward, angry, and just too much.
"God must hate me." He thinks to himself over and over again.
Suicidal thoughts and all, he makes it through the week. Sure, he doesn't speak for the rest of that Thursday or the entirety of Friday, but he makes it through. The only people he speaks to are teachers so that he can gather his homework and any notes he'll need for the next week while he's on vacation with his family.
Sunday morning, he boards a plane with his family and some family friends. They're going to Aruba. A rough week followed by a tropical paradise. He should be excited, right? Wrong. He's far too burdened.
While on the plane, he remembers how much Quinn likes The Super Mash Bros. and how she'd recommended him a specific song because it featured part of Eminem's 'Without Me'. While his uncle is asleep in the seat next to him, Puck writes an original song on the notes app on his iPod. He names it 'Without Me' as an homage to what was 'their' song/inside joke. Later, he deletes it, realizing the answer to his question 'How's your week been, without me?' in the chorus, is definitely a positive answer and/or something he doesn't want to hear. He's sure she hates him. Every WMPS kid does. Even he does.
His father is the CEO of a large chain of sporting good stores called "Champion Unlimited", so of course, the Puckermans have got a little extra cash to burn. They stay in a five star resort in Aruba, yet to Puck all he associates his room with is the alone time he has there - the time he uses to hate himself.
And sure, Puck's got attention deficit disorder, but when it comes time to check his email for chemistry notes his teacher promised to send, he simply can't concentrate. There isn't a thing in the world that could take Quinn off his burdened mind. When he closes his eyes every night, in futile attempts to fall asleep, all he can see is the beautiful girl who will never love him. His agony doesn't end.
He comes back from the island the following Monday, when student council speeches are to be read to the student body and then council members are appointed. Of course, he loses. His speech is great, but his image is not. Forever his image will be sullied for what he's done. He feels like John Edwards or Roman Polanski. Never again will people look at him the same way.
At field day, basically a day for the jocks to show off and the one day a year the cheerios are permitted to be out of uniform, Quinn is quite friendly to him. He's on the red team and she's on the white team, but it doesn't matter. He's smiling like an idiot and she's acting like she's beginning to forgive him. That night, he feels better.
But, of course, Quinn's a teenage girl. She changes her mind.
At graduation, the eleventh graders have to create a procession for the graduating class to walk through. She wears a light pink dress. The eleventh graders are arranged by height but a few girls have decided to ditch, so she ends up near him in the procession. He can't help but stare. She looks amazing. More than amazing. She looks radiant. That's not a word he knows, but it's how he feels.
While walking to his car, he yells a quick goodbye to her from across the parking lot. Maybe her car's in the shop or something, because she's opening the back door to her step-father's car. She says nothing to his polite goodbye and he could swear that he saw her mother shoot him a death glare or two.
He'll never feel the same. Puck spends the entire summer running, not to work out, but to try to run away from the thought of her. Of course, you can't run from your own guilt, so it does nothing. It only makes his lungs and legs stronger, but he's never felt weaker. Yeah, he'll rebuild his image next school year. He'll even be friends with Santana, Brittany, Mercedes, and Tina. He even becomes, dare I say it, acquaintances with Quinn. But he will always be more than remorseful and have a contrite heart, that beats faster every time he sees Quinn.